Cutting knife slot closing plate



May 20, 1952 F. w. sEYBoLD CUTTING KNIFE SLOT CLOSING PLATE 2 SHEETS--SHEET l Filed Dec. 2, 1948 May 20, 1952 F. w. sEYBoLD 2,597,826

CUTTING KNIFE SLOT CLOSING PLATE Filed neo. 2, 1948 2 SHEETS- SHEET 2 Enf@ L Jaihhn Patented May 20, 1952 treo STATE s PATENT or Fics 'CUTTNG'KLNIFE 'SLOT CLOSING VPLliiTE Frederiek W.; Seybold, Westfield, N. J., assigner to P. Lawson Co, Inc., New Xork, N. Xg a. corporation of New York Application December 2, 1948, Serial No. 63,000

2- Claims.

My 'present `invention is primarily an improvement over. the invention shown in my application Serial No. 673,289, filed May 31, 1946, now- Patent No. 2,570,873, issued OctoberQ, 1951, and application Serial No. 752,542, filed June 4, 19.47, now U. S.'Patent No. 2,467,537, and relates particularly `to Athe construction of a slot closing plate for a cutting knife, which plate is so arranged that it will,v maintain the slot closed irrespective of the amount of wear or other adjustment of the knife itself during use thereof.

In the: operation of cutting knives of the socalled guillotine type as exemplified .by my abovementioned applications,,thel knife which cuts a stack of sheets comes down not only witha downward movement but also withl a Aswi'lging lateral movement, usually moving-toward the left in its downward swing.

For this reason, the knife bar and bladefrides in a pair of slots on` opposite sides ofthe work table which guide the knifeA blade and at the same `time permit the knife blade and bar to swing laterally during the downward stroke.

Thelateral swing of the knife bar during the downward stroke has the effect of forcing'the paper stack. as a whole against the left-hand gauge-and hence against-'theV slot traversed by .the knife blade.

Of course, the paper stack is placed againstY the left-hand gauge initially, but the pressurefofzthe knife blade as it swings laterally tends to drive the paperstaek,very tightly against the left-hand gauge. Trimmings, or small' narrow piles such as small labels tend, therefore, to beldriven into the.- slot on the lefi-l side in which the knife bar rides.

' Where a narrow out is taken, the'operation of the knife bar in this manner tends to -sweep or pull all of the narrow strips severed into the knifeY slot. For 4this reasorn it has become desirable to close the slot in such mannerv that the closure. may automatically beopened .bythe descent. ofthe knife blade but, nevertheless, soA that theelosure member also automatically closes up the slot at everypositionof the knife blade.

Thus, attempts have beenxmadeto utilize the rotatable closure plates which are swung out of the way Von the descent of the knife blade or slidable: closure plates which, are pushed.. down on thedescentof ythelniifeblade and rise 411p-once morewhen the knife blade rises.

It is possible to makesuch-closure'plateseither swinging or sliding so that they will operate properlyV for .one4 adjustment of. the knife bar and for-, 4 one-exact width ofblade. However.- asA the knife continues :in use, the, blade .is Acom-,inuously sharpened and resharpenedv and, therefore, becomes shorter.

As a matter of fact, after it has been shortened by sharpening, itmay be adjusted to an entirely new position on the knife bar, in most cases, where it is again relatively wide or projects relatively far below the knife bar.

A primary object .of my present invention is to provide, therefore, an adjustable slot .closing plate which may be automatically adjusted for any adjustment of the .knife bar and forl any relative width of knife blade so that the slot ,will always be completely closed.

This is .extremely important vsince veven a relatively very narrow aperture at the upper end of the slot adjacent the knife blade asfthe-knife blade Vwears will permit one or two or more strips to `be forced into the slot fand those strips. will damage the top of the paper pileinl process lof being cut.

A further object of my invention is the provision of simplied operating means for thezslot closure plate yso arranged that it will yautomti/- cally follow the operation of the knife bar in both directions.

Another object of my invention isy the Provision of simplified adjusting elements formynovel slot closing plate.

Another object of my invention is the provision of simple spring means for supporting -theslot closing plate in continuous slot closing Arelation with the knife anditsblade.

The foregoing and many other objects of my invention will vbecome apparent in the following description and drawings in which:

Figure l is apartial View in perspective of my novel ,slot closing plate in conjunction with. a fragmentary view of theknife bar'and knife with which itis to cooperate.

Figure 2 is a front elevation showing the. meth.- od vof lattachnientof my novel slot closing plate to the springisupport. K

Figure V3 isa side view partly in crosseseotion orny'novel-slot closingplate Figure 4 is an end view of my novel slot closing plate.

Figure' 5 :isiav cross-sectional View through `myI novelrslotzelos'ing 'plate' and a portion oftheiknife frame.

Referring now tothel figures, the 'knifebar lll carrying the knifeblade Il. is aotuatedupA and down in any suitable manner asl shownyin 'my prior. applieationerialNo. 673,289in slots vI'iVin; the' main flame lei; the' said slots "being, .donned by the side guides I2 and I3 (Figure 5). Guide I3 may be a fixed guide in each of the slots and guide I2 may be adjustable by the wedge I9 which may be moved in and out by the adjusting screw also as described in my aforesaid prior application. The left side gauge is formed by portion I 4a of frame I4 back of slot I5, the slot closing plate and the additional side gauge member 2i forward of the slot. The paper to be cut rests, of course, on table 22, the slot closing' plate is guided and positioned for vertical sliding movement by guide 23 in front gauge 2| which guide cooperates with the vertical member 2l secured to the slot closing plate 25. The rear end of the slot closing plate isguided by guide 25 in slot Iii which guide however starts below the level of table 22 and does not interfere with the movement of the knife.

As previously pointed out, the knife bar ID an its associated blade I I not only have a downward movement but also have a movement toward the left so that the knife blade acts as a laterally swinging guillotine. This movement toward the left tends to drive scraps of paper and especially narrow strips when they are severed by the knife bar into the left hand slot I 5.

For this reason, a slot closing plate is required. Various types of slot closing plates have been used. But the difficulty has arisen that as the knife blade II is continuously sharpened, it varies its relative width with respect to the knife bar I so that at rst a small gap appears between the slot closing plate and the knife blade and as the blade is shortened by further continuous sharpening, the gap widens sufciently to permit relatively large quantities of paper to be cumulatively jammed into the slot I5. v

` For this purpose and in order to obviate this difficulty, my invention contemplates an adjustable slot closing plate 25 having a main body which slides up and down in the slot and which, with the additional elements below described, completely fills the slot at all times so that paper particles and other material cannot be jammed into the slot despite the lateral movementl of the knife bar I0 and the blade i I.

The main body of the slot closing plate 25 has a vertical member 2l secured thereto in any suitable manner as by the rivets 28, the said vertical `element extending up to the upper end 3i of knife bar I0.

The vertical member 2l thus comprises a rigid link extending above the main body of the slot closing plate 25 and carries at its upper end a pin 25 connected by removable hook 3i] to the chain 'I0 which passes over pulley 'II rotatable on pin I2 carried by the main frame or crossbrace of the machine. The other end of chain lil is connected to tension spring 53, the opposite end of spring 'i3 being held by pin I4 also carried by the main frame or cross-brace of the machine.

'Spring 'I3 thus maintains the slot closing plate against knife bar Iii and its blade II, closing the slot. Spring T3 permits the knife bar I5 to push the plate 25 down while still maintaining the slot closed. The plate 25 may then move down vertically in the slot while bar i0 slides laterally and downwardly. The spring I3 then pulls plate '25 up with knife bar I5 when bar I5 rises again.

When any adjustment is to be made of blade II or plate 25 or parts thereof, hook 35 may be disengaged from pin 29 to permit the slot closing plate 25 to fall down in the slot, making the plate 25 or blade II accessible for adjustment. When the adjustment is made, plate 25 is lifted up in the slot and hook 30 reconnected to pin 29 whereupon spring 13 continuously supports the plate 25 against bar I0 and blade I I.

The slot closing plate has a rearward extension which is vertically adjustable. 'I'he upper end 36 of the rearward extension 35 is adapted to register with the lower surface of the'knife blade Il, while the upper surfaces 31- and 38 of the main body 26 of the slot closing plate4 are adapted to register with the lower surface of the knife bar I0.

The main body 25 of the slot closing plate is vertically slotted and undercut at 40 to provide a recess in which the vertical lug 4I of the adjusta-ble member 35 may slide. The upper surface 38 of the main body 26 of the slot closing plate is provided with an opening 42 having the counterbore 43 to receive the bolt 44 having the head 45, the head 45 being recessed in the counterbore 43.

The head 45 of the bolt 44 is confined between the bottom of counterbore 43 and a pin 46, the latter being perpendicular to the plate 25 and secured therein.

The upper surface of the lug 4I of the adjustable member 35 is provided with the vertically tapped opening 5! in which the lower end of the bolt 44 is threaded. When the bolt 44 isV rotated by means of a socket wrench engaged in socket 53 thereof, the vertically adjustable member 35 and its lug 4I are raised or lowered in accordance with the sense of rotation.

rEhe adjustment is automatically locked in position by the spring biased lug 55, the point of which is pushed against the grooves 56 in the head 45 of the bolt by the compression spring 51. The locking lug 55 and spring 57 are mounted in the lateral recess 50 which communicates with the counterbore 43 and thereby permits the locking lug 55 to be effective.

Thus, as the knife blade II is continuously sharpened and reduced in width so that it projects to a lesser degree from the lower end of the knife bar I 0, the rotation of the bolt 44 raises the adjustable element 35 so that the upper end 35 thereof is closely in engagement with the lower end of the knife blade II. Every time the blade II is sharpened and thus reduced in its vertical dimension, the adjustment may be made to ensure closing of the knife slot.

When the blade II is finally replaced by a longer blade, then the adjustment is made to lower the adjustable member 35 so that the upper end 35 thereof is in close engagement with the lower end of the blade.

The upper surface of the slot closing plate is made accessible in any suitable manner by removing hook 30 from pin 29 permitting plate 25 to fall down in the slot while knife bar Hl stays up.

By this means, therefore, a simplified adjustable slot closing plate is provided which will be universally adaptable over the entire range of use of the knife and which will automatically be adaptable to the closing of the slot irrespective of the vertical dimension of the blade.

In the foregoing, I have described my invention solely in connection with specific preferred embodiments thereof. Since many variations and modifications of my invention will now be obvious to those skilled in the art, I prefer to be bound not by the specic disclosure herein contained, but only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a guillotine type paper cutter having a frame and a vertically reciprocable knife, said knife having a lateral movement toward and away from one side of the frame during its reciprocation and a slot in said side of the frame receiving and guiding the knife for Vertical and lateral movement thereof; a slot closing plate vertically slidable in said slot and having a surface coplanar with the portions of the frame defining the slot; said plate being downwardly 1novable by the knife during downward movement of the knife; and resilient means retaining said plate against the lower end of said knife to close said slot continuously, said means comprising an upwardly directed extension of said plate; a tension spring connected at one end to said extension and at the other end to a stationary portion of the frame.

2. In a guillotine type paper cutter having a frame and a vertically reciprocable knife, said knife having a lateral movement toward and away from one Side of the frame during its reciprocation, and a slet in said side of the frame receiving and guiding the knife for vertical and lateral movement thereof; a slot closing plate vertically slidable in said slot and having a surface co-planar with the portions of the frame defining the slot; said plate being downwardly movable by the knife during downward movement of the knife; and resilient means retaining said plate against the lower end of said knife to close said slot continuously; said means comprising an' upwardly directed extension of said plate, a flexible member connected to said extension including a sheave over which said iiexible member passes and bends, and a tension spring connected at one end to said flexible member and at the other end to a stationary portion of the frame.

FREDERICK W. SEYBOLD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 848,578 Thelin Mar. 26, 1907 2,190,213 Meyer Feb. 13, 1940 2,373,455 Carey Apr. 10, 1945 2,467,537 Seybold Apr, 19, 1949 

